Former mayor appointed to vacant council seat
Anthony Spitaleri served on City Council from 2005 to 2014
SUNNYVALE >> Former Mayor Anthony Spitaleri will fill the empty council seat vacated last year by Council member Mason Fong.
In November, Fong resigned from his at-large council seat to take a job as Gov. Gavin Newsom's deputy director for external affairs for Northern California.
Spitaleri, who was on the council from 2005 to 2014, will serve out the rest of Fong's term, which ends Jan. 3, 2023. At that time, the seat will transition into a district seat as required by the California Voting Rights Act. Two other council seats also will become districtbased next year.
The former mayor's appointment by the Sunnyvale City Council on Feb. 8 happened after several rounds of ranked choice voting, with the council briefly deadlocked over whether to appoint Spitlateri or former Mayor Jim Griffith.
At one point, the council debated whether it could flip a coin to break the tie — a solution suggested by Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee. But the consensus to name Spitaleri seemed to ultimately come down to concerns some council members had about Griffith's need to recuse himself on votes related to Google — a stipulation made by his employer, Apple.
Former Mayor Tony Spitaleri is back on the City Council, being appointed to a vacant council seat.
With critical decisions needing to be made about Moffett Park this year, and the possibility that Council member Omar Din might have to recuse himself on the issue as well, the council opted to appoint Spitaleri.
“If we end up in a scenario where two council members need to recuse themselves from a vote that is this pivotal to the city, I think that is a very dangerous situation to go into,” Din said.
During his time on the council, Spitaleri pushed a gun control measure, which made it illegal to possess a magazine with more than 10 rounds and required residents to lock up their weapons and report any loss or theft within 48 hours. As a result, the NRA sued the city, but a federal appeals court ruled that the law was constitutional and didn't infringe on gun owners' rights.
The council's decision to fill the vacant seat by appointment was done to avoid a costly special election, which the city estimated came with a price tag ranging from $230,000 to $3.1 million depending on when it was held.
Spitaleri will be sworn into office Feb. 9.